Proposed pit bull ban

It's such a tough call because they can be the sweetest things when trained properly, but left in the hands of uneducated owners, they will inevitably turn and harm someone. It's not the dogs fault, your're right. Irresponsible owners are ruining it for everyone else.

I have read up on the history of these magnificent dogs. Their past is full of being bred for violence. Many have been treated horrible but still when the most vicious animal is bred to a calmer and tamer dog some where in it history is the genes for aggression. Your right part of the problem is in the training but it is also in the genes. So after knowing of instances of these dogs killing people I agree with the banning of these dogs. The Doberman is having the same problem. Your right that people are the problem but unless the bred is band how are you going to keep little kids safe if one of these aggressive gets out of his pen or yard and kills some one. I know of an incidents of 3 Dobermans attacking and killing a couple of children waiting for the school bus. The police were also attacked. These animals had to be put down because the people that had them did not know how to handle them. The problem is keeping this type dog out of ignorant peoples hands. I see only one way and that is to ban them. Did you know that some insurance companies will not insure a home that has a pit bull or Doberman in residence?

I don't think a ban on pit bulls is fair. I would support the regulation of doing background checks on anyone who buys them and registers for a license. It's the owners who are usually at fault for the training of the pit bull, not the dog itself. If there were a way to check out the background of the owner, I think there could be a lot of serious problems avoided. Of course, nothing is fool proof, not even a ban.

I agree with you. I am an animal lover(particularly dogs) and I believe that the owner of the dog, whatever breed it may be is the one responsible for the dog. If you treat your dog well and train it properly, then I guess there is no way that it would be bad. And if it happens that you can no longer be responsible to your dog, you could ask the help of animal oraganization on your place so that they could take your dog. I believe that tehre is always an option for everything, and that option, whatever it is, is our choice. SO I guess in this situation the poor pit bulls are the victims of their irresponsible owner.

Sadly, although I love all animals, this breed seems to be a very tempermental breed. Perhaps it is just in how it is raised...I don't know. I have heard and read alot of horror stories about this breed and personally I'd never have one or be around one but that is my personal preference. AT PEACE WITHIN

I agree with the different cities who are banning pit bulls. You are right, it is the owner's responsibility and not the dogs of how they are treated and trained. Unfortunately, too many incidents of pit bulls hurting children have occurred and something has to be done about it. Where I live, pit bulls are banned. Period. sunnywaters

Man should be banned.Period.When we need to serve our paranoia with monsters, we'll find something en vgoue.These dogs have truly been through enough.

Pit Bulls are not the only dog that can become viscious. Even a gentle dog can exhibit behavior that is threatening to a human or another animal.

I agree with you, my son has two of them and they are the sweetest dogs. It is the owners and what they do to these dogs taht make them the way that they are. It is sad that the Pitts have gotten such a bad rap because they are very loving dogs. I am working on a website about Pitts for my son he takes in pitts that people are getting rid of or dont want anymore.

Karen, I just found all these Mylot discussions in my bulk mailbox. It will take me a little time to get caught up. I don't know why they are going there. I agree. It is the responsibility of the owner to take care of and control their pets. We cannot take it out on a breed of dogs. That makes no sense. We have the pitbull problem in our area but it is not really a pitbull problem. It is an owner problem.

Breed bans or breed specific legislation is a blanket solution that has actually proven over time ineffective. The single, biggest problem with it is that there is only one breed of dog with 'pit bull' in it's name -- the American Pit-Bull Terrier -- and over 50 purebred breeds and countless mixes that might RESEMBLE a dog of Pit Bull type. Since the typical layman has no idea how to identify what is a pit bull and what is not, it turns into a witch hunt for any dog fitting their personal description. When the ban came into effect in Ontario, Canada, countless dog owners were forced to relinquish their dogs or were facing public scrutiny for their ownership of animals resembling that type. Unfortunately, many of those dogs were mixes of, or purebred dogs such as Mastiffs, Boxers, Labrador Retrievers, American Bulldogs or Rottweilers. The public should have known it would be that way, and fought it more intensively when the attorney general, Michael Bryant, failed to identify an American Pit-Bull Terrier from a list of pictures presented to him. Once confronted with the knowledge that he had failed to pick the correct picture, his retort was "A pitbull is a pitbull is a pitbull". Not a very comforting thought to those owning dogs that have no Pit ancestry but who might resemble one. In a lot of municipalities, animal control officers are in charge of distinguishing what is a pit bull and what is not. Since in my hometown, our purebred REGISTERED CANADIAN CHAMPION Siberian Husky was identified as a German Shepherd/Husky Cross, I'd be skeptical to place this kind of power in the hands of those people. They're not alone, though. When working for the humane society, I was told by the workers that generally "any dog with a thick coat, upright ears and a brush tail" is considered a Husky or German Shepherd Cross when it comes to identifying them, unless it looks stereotypically purebred. Not great criteria when that discounts all the other breeds or crosses with those traits. No wonder Huskies or Siberian Huskies are often considered a dangerous breed, when they're lumped in with other breeds with more energetic or aggressive tendencies. First Pits and then what? Rotties, Dobermans, German Shepherds, Akitas, Mastiffs, Labrador Retrievers, Bouviers, Huskies and on and on and on. Italy has a list of over 90 breeds banned or under restricted ownership due to past bite incidences (all it takes is one reported dog bite for that breed, I am told), and I can't see other countries that are adopting such an ignorant stance towards dogs, being that far behind. If everytime an incidence including a dog of 'pit bull type' happens, the public cries "BAN", we're completely discounting the fact that the owner of that animal is almost completely responsible for what happened. We don't though. Punishment is to destroy the dog and impose a small fine. The horrible dog owner goes out and buys his next big, butch status symbol and the problem perpetuates. These are people that don't really care whether you destroy their dog, or if you restrict ownership of them, because they'll either hide their dog in a shed or garage (which creates an even more unsocialized and confused animal) or just buy another breed with similar characteristics to what they liked in pit bulls. It's the families that cherish their dog specifically that suffer in this. They're the ones the media doesn't write about. Stories about good people doing good things with their good dogs rarely sell papers.

Any dog can learn aggressive behavior, and like you I believe it's unfair to blame a breed. We are dog sitting for my brother's beautiful black pit bull and Harley is so affectionate and loving. He was and is being trained by way of the "Dog Whisperer"